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Very Short Introductions #265

by Thomas Forrest Kelly

The music of the medieval, Renaissance, and baroque periods have been repeatedly discarded and rediscovered ever since they were new. An interest in music of the past has been characteristic of a part of the musical world since the early 19th century-from about the time of the rise of museums. The revival of Gregorian chant in the early 19th century; the "Cecilian movement" in later 19th-century Germany seeking to immortalize Palestrina's music as a sound-ideal; Mendelssohn's revival of Bach: these are some of the efforts made in the past to restore still earlier music. In recent years this interest has taken on particular meaning, representing two specific trends: first, a rediscovery of little-known underappreciated repertories, and second, an effort to recover lost performing styles, with the conviction that such music will come to life anew with the right performance. Much has been gained in the 20th century from the study and revival of instruments, playing techniques, and repertories. What began as a "movement" akin to the arts-and-crafts movement took on political overtones in the 1960s, fueled by a sense of return to the natural, a rebellion against received wisdom and enforced conformity, and a notion that early music was a participant's music as much as it was a listener's. The enormous success of a few performers and groups has tended to professionalize early music, and the amateur, participatory aspect has gradually faded. In this VSI, Thomas Forrest Kelly frames chapters on the forms, techniques, and repertories practices of the medieval, Renaissance, and baroque periods with discussion of why old music has been and should be revived, and a short history of early music revivals.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Art

150 pages, Paperback

First published March 26, 2011

About the author

An American musicologist, musician, and scholar. He is the Morton B. Knafel Professor of Music at Harvard University.

Reviews

[Raymond · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a nice introduction on the musical development from the music from the Middle Ages to the Baroque. It explains well the innovations during this period. It also sets out the problems of reconstructing the early music, the instruments, their sounds, and the problems in interpreting the scores. Research in this area is very important to get a better understanding. I share the conclusion that it is an illusion to reconstruct the music as it sounded in the 15-17 centuries. Even if it were perfectly done, modern audiences would react in a different way than an audience during that period. If we want to be faithful to the original composers, we should, with the help of research, try to bring good music that is appreciated by 21st century listeners. The last chapter on the early music revival is inevitably too much a long list of names. A notable omission is Jordi Savall. He is only once mentioned as professor of viola da gamba at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. His later founding of Hespèrion XX, Hespèrion XXI, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, and the Concert of Nations. I strongly recommend reading this book.

[Russ Kaminski · Rating 2 out of 5]

About half the book is dedicated to the development, composers, and characteristics of Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music. The other half is focused on recreating that music in modern times, and recent discourse on authenticity of instruments and performances.

The audience of this book is someone who already has a background in music history and performance. Rather than someone who has a passing interest in music history because they like classical music in the background while they clean, and like to feel smart when they watch Jeopardy. (Okay I’m just taking about myself)

It felt like walking into a college course halfway through the semester. It treats obscure composers as household names, and twice refers to South Indian music style with little elaboration. It’s for an exclusive club of academic music enthusiasts, rather than being accessible to the general public.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

The content is interesting, but the book really needed an editor (or a better editor). It often assumes of the reader too much knowledge of musical history or theory, and it is frustratingly repetitive and unfocused in parts. Though there are some recommendations scattered throughout the text, one also wishes for a short discography of recommended recordings or at least a list of key works.

The book achieved its aim as I do feel I have a bit more knowledge and historical context of early music, yet I also feel like the book is scattershot and withholding key insights in favor of insider gossip and frivolities.

[Chelsie Beep]

Flipped it thru in havard book store while looking for the one about Arendt. It is literally what it claims to be: a short intro. It interestingly talks about the state of current early music pedagogy, which is not so much about the specific genre anymore.

[Korie Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the topic, but this was written so dryly that I ended up skimming for information.

[Jonathan Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have no idea how accurate or thorough this is, but it has provided me the broad introduction to the material I sought.

[Hrishikesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and opinionated. A good introduction to the early music movement in Western Classical music.

[Yulan Wang · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this waiting for a concert :) pleasantly surprised…

[Elisenda Fusté Forès · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too academic type for me, although I know the theme very well, the form of academical paper made it a bit heavy to read. But, overall, a great book to use for a research paper, etc.

[Daniel Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Academy of Ancient Music was formed for the express purpose of reviving and playing 'old' music. It perhaps seems odd to us that it was founded in 1726, and a great deal of music was yet to be composed which would now seem pretty old in itself. The term 'early music' is clearly a relative one, and the consequent fluidity of its use is one that the author of this book takes a conspicuous delight in. He discusses at length the phenomenon of 'early music', by which he means the movement(s) to revive and play extinct forms of music. Among other things he questions the idea of 'authenticity' asking whether it is possible for people today, who have heard Beethoven and Wagner, to appreciate Baroque music the way its first listeners did, or whether that would be desirable.

Apart from this, in a series of chapters he describes the three distinct periods of 'early' music. Acknowledging, with a certain amount of regret, that we know nothing about actual 'ancient' music, he turns his attention to what we know of medieval music. The first written music that we have is from this period (mostly church music), and is the very beginning of the notation we use today; not indicating any harmony, or the length of each note, and gradually developing to become more and more comprehensive. The Renaissance period (although musically the term is inappropriate, since it does not in any way involve the 'rebirth' of ancient music) gives birth to a good deal more variety, and especially opera. Involving music, poetry, physical performance and (more often than not) visual art, opera is perhaps the most supremely synthetic form of art that humanity has devised. Finally, the baroque period expands yet more; the author refers to more composers than most of us can even be aware existed.

The author's joy in his subject is transparent and infectious, and suffuses the stream of judiciously presented information to make his book a pleasure to read. By the end of it, the reader cannot help but be well-disposed towards the early music movement, if not outright enamoured of it.

[André · Rating 2 out of 5]

ALTE-MUSIK-INTRO ALS TOUR DE FORCE

Während mich beim Gröninger-Buch störte, dass der zu wenig auf Eigenschaften Alter Musik einging (zumal er das gut kann), dafür dann eher Lebenswege repräsentativer Musiker durch die (europ.) Länder nachvollzog - und zumindest einen roten Faden/eine Entwicklung durch die Geschichte skizzieren konnte -, enthält Thomas Forrest Kellys Buch zwar mehr zum Wesen Alter Musik, vermengt das aber als großes, hektisch durcheinandergehendes Faktenaufzählen ("Was fehlt noch?"-Teilüberschrift), immerhin mit den 3 epochalen Einschnitten: Mittelalter, Renaissance, Barock.

Dieses kleine Reclam-Heftchen basiert auf einem englischen Original aus der über 500 Bücher umfassenden "Very-Short-Introductions"-Serie. Jedes Buch hätte den Anspruch, "balanced and complete", bestenfalls noch "thought provoking" zu sein. Kelly scheitert m.E. oft daran, gleichzeitig als Musikprofessor "complete" und als Very-Short-Autor genießbar zu sein. Es ist kein Essay, keine Bettlektüre. Man findet paar interessante Informationen, aber ohne Google und YouTube für Alternativerklärungen und Hörbeispiele wird man sich als Laie oft schwertun: Die zweite Buchhälfte (ab Barock) bietet alle 2 Sätze neue Begriffe, Namedropping, musiktheoretisches Kleinklein. Wurde dann unbefriedigend und hab das Buch schon mal in die Ecke gefeuert, weil so nichts bei mir hängen bleibt.

Fazit: Eher was für Leute, die es mit Musiktheorie ernster meinen als ich und sich leichter quälen lassen. Wahrscheinlich ist es auch sinnvoller, bessere Bücher über jeweils eine der Musikepochen zu suchen, und Bücher, die nicht gleichzeitig "komplett" und "very short" sein wollen.

[Silvio Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice little book about early music, meaning European music that's old enough not to be part of the standard canon of so-called "classical music" or at least old enough to antedate modern "classical music" performance styles. In practice that means that coverage starts from the first manuscripts with musical notation that scholars can partly understand, which is partway through the Middle Ages, and continues all the way up through the eighteenth century. The explanation of how harmony developed over time is about as clear and simple as I could ever hope for, though it still assumes more knowledge about music than I have, and in passing it makes the very helpful observation that complex harmony is the main distinctive feature of "Western" music in cross-cultural perspective, where other traditions are much more complex in melody and rhythm. The book is written from within something called the early music movement or early music revival and includes reflections on that movement's principles, which I found very interesting philosophically and helped me clarify my own reasons for reading ancient literature.

[Hayden Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This information has potential to become drier and drier. This book presents what you need to know, without giving you cotton mouth. Great read if you need to know a weirdly large amount about early music. I love music so I enjoy knowing weirdly large amounts about it. That's why I gave this book a high rating.

[Norman Wakefield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and engaging.

[Nalora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, easy to read, a great book (in paperback) to take out to the park or garden in summer because of its small size. Covers succinctly with a good overview of much of Early Music in its forms.

[Vikas Datta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant.... a book every lover of this stately, captivating music should read.

[Dan Vine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fair survey of Early Music revivals in Europe and North America (I assume). He mentioned an orchestra in Japan but otherwise there was no acknowledgement of any relevant activity in Asia or the southern hemisphere. Is this ignorance or a considered judgement that nothing interesting has happened in early music in Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Chile? Or a more general assumption that nothing of note ever happens south of the equator. It could be any of those things. Also there are parts of the book that give the impression of having been written at speed without much editing. However, his discussion of the key historical, technical and sociological issues is very good and provides food for thought.